


Hopelessly/Finally

by Adeline_Hatter



Series: Plance Plance Revolution Baby [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Drunk Confession, F/M, Part 1 & 2 are very different narrative wise you have been warned, Pidge and Romelle bonding, Pidge is a lightweight, Voltron Season 7 Spoilers, girl talk, plangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 19:34:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15735981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adeline_Hatter/pseuds/Adeline_Hatter
Summary: One Paladin gets Drunk.Another one sees their life.





	1. Hopelessly

**Author's Note:**

> Originally supposed to be companion fics but then I was just like 'Posting it as it's own two shot on it's own' SO ENJOY

Pidge has discovered that she has an awful habit of confusing people, which ok. Wasn’t actually that awful a habit to have, at least to her. 

 

But, it started to feel like she had one when she explained for the 42nd time how something so simple even an Olkari child could work it out… Which was when she’d paused, because she wasn’t dealing with many other alien races anymore, she wasn’t in space anymore. 

 

She was back on Earth, finally out of her fucking hospital room and actually doing things. Rebuilding what the Galra had destroyed up bigger and bolder, stronger. Looking out and after her parents when she could, helping with every new thing they learned about the technology within that robeast. 

 

It was strange adjusting, sometimes she missed the quiet. Other times she dreaded it, they were slowing down finally after a good few years of being on the run of things, stress weighing down their shoulders. 

 

She didn’t realise quite how much more relaxed she was until the stabbing pains had appeared in her abdomen again, ones she’d forgotten about were now back. Just continous in their stabbing for a week straight, her period kick starting was something she’d been expecting but had not been fun. 

 

Her Mother had helpfully told her that it was due again that morning, it felt so… Weird to be back on Earth, experiencing things she’d forgotten all about in the long run of time. 

 

She had to pull her hair back out of her face now, the familiar sensory of it just brushing her shoulders and the base of her neck a feeling she had never quite realised she’d missed. 

 

It reminded her she was alive in that way when everything felt a little dream like it was the little things that brought her back, the first droplet of rain she’d gotten on her face, reminding that they’d  _ won  _ they’d  _ survived.  _

 

Pidge wasn’t an idiot, she knew at some point they’d all be called off planet again to go witch hunting, they’d probably leave the moment she’d worked out a routine to get through on Earth for herself, that Shiro had been adamant she creates for herself to get through the trauma that was still buzzing around in all their heads.

 

And she had, for the most part. She had found a purpose in discovering what she could and giving her teammates space themselves to adjust to being on Earth again.

 

There had been something therapeutic about learning her Mother had put most of their stuff in storage when she’d realised she wouldn’t be going home for a while, having a few suitcases full of her clothes dropped off at her room in the Garrison had been a godsend. 

 

Her favourite jumper had been amongst the clothing, as well as a small battered soft covered green notebook, her old handwriting spilled across the pages and she’d almost started crying when she read about when things were  _ normal.  _

 

She didn’t know if she missed it or not. 

 

There was only one constant between her routine as it had been in Space with how it was now. 

 

Her eyes tended to follow Lance when they were in the same room together, even when she knew it wasn’t her job any more. She didn’t need to do it, when it wasn’t her job now, it was Allura’s. 

She did it anyway. 

 

How could she not? If had been second nature in space, it wasn’t a habit she was going to kick so easily.

 

But she didn’t need to do it anymore, they were  _ Home,  _ they were  _ Safe,  _ he had…

 

Lance had everything he ever wanted, she was happy for him. She really was. 

 

The pen in her hand doesn’t give way just a little, in a way that would indicate that it would be the easiest thing to break in the universe right now-   
  
“Pidge?” A blonde ponytail flops in front of her vision at the desk in the Castle Data room first, then purple eyes and finally a porcelain beige hand that waves in front of her eyes as Romelle sits down in the chair next to her verbal communication or not, “Are you alright?”    
  
She considers how to answer this, she’d only really travelled on the road with Romelle a couple times as the Altean preferred the Red or Blue lions to any of the others, though a few instances of her in Yellow had been present as well, she’d made the rounds on the lions like everyone else of course. 

 

“I’m fine.” Her voice doesn’t waver as she sets the pen down in favour of sorting through more data from the castle, coding and mathematical equations immediately soothing the slight tension in her head, “Just thinking.” 

 

But, Pidge is reminded all at once that Romelle was the older of two children simply in the way the other woman rights her posture a bit straighter, in the way like Matt used to do when she’d come home from being bullied again, Romelle was an older sibling and while she’d apparently been a little needy she still knew the small tells. 

 

“You’ve been avoiding Lance and Allura.” Is what Romelle chooses to say first after a moment of silence as she opens up her own data point, running through the files with slight ease, she’s another excitable person in the team, “And while I may not have been around for the battle-”    
  
“Actually that’s a good point where were you-”    
  
“-Running errands for soldiers and listening where I could, nothing important.” She waved Pidge’s question off, or attempted to “But what about you…”    
  
Pidge sits up a little straighter herself as she lowers her voice to turn towards her companion, “Romelle… Were you  _ spying  _ on the Garrison?”    
  
“No.” The Altean stated plainly, then after a beat “...Maybe.” 

 

She honestly didn’t know whether to be impressed or annoyed. 

 

“You have to understand how frightfully hard it was just sitting there doing nothing!” She hisses back at Pidge quietly, with frustration in her voice more than any other feeling, “Especially when everyone else is out there being useful.”    
  
They settle back into silence, a mutual kind of understanding as they watch some other officers mill about, it’s when the door opens at the far end of the room that Pidge saw his head and slipped as fast as she could out of her chair and into the small space beneath the desk. 

 

“Romelle, have you seen Pidge?” Lance’s voice reaches her, asking after her, “Hunk said you two were in here?”    
  
The longer legs of the Altean move smoothly in front of Pidge’s hiding place, “Haven’t seen her all day, sorry.” There’s a surprising amount of grace in Romelle’s movements.

 

“Oh.” There’s something off about his tone, in the way he says it that means it’s going to bug her head for a while, “If you see her, we’re gonna hang with the MFE’s in the kitchen for a while, you’re welcome too.”    
  
“Noted.” Romelle chirps, Pidge can hear the smile in the other girl’s voice. 

 

They both waited until the door has shut and his footsteps have faded down the hallway before she pulls herself out from under the desk, “He’s gone.” Ears too pointy to be human twitch carefully. 

 

She sits back down in her chair as Romelle drums her fingers on the desk. 

 

“Does Earth have anything like Nunvil but stronger?” She asks in an innocent tone, “You look like you could use a drink.” 

 

Pidge almost smiles as she says, “I may know where we can find something.”    
  
“Excellent.” 

 

* * *

  
  


An hour later finds a bottle of good Irish Whiskey stole- Liberated from Commander Donahue’s office and Pidge talking about feelings with someone for once. 

 

Romelle wasn’t sympathetic like Hunk in her responses, nor was she overly nice about it, she simply stated her mind and Pidge could admire that, she wasn’t all stoic and quiet like Keith either even if she just kept the small human company. 

 

“It’s called Whiskey.” Pidge tells Romelle when they settle into Romelle’s bunk in the small Garrison barracks, signs of the Altean living in here are everywhere but still small enough that she could just grab things and go if she wanted to, “They make it all over the world, but mainly on this tiny island called Ireland.” 

 

“An island called Island?”

 

“No…. Nevermind.” 

 

Romelle tips the bottle back against her mouth in response and coughs, “Oh that burns… It’s lovely.” She held the bottle out to Pidge, who took it without much hesitation, her lips press together softly as she seemed to contemplate something “My Father had something similar in our home before…”

 

It was easy to forget that some members of this war weren’t as lucky as others, while they mostly had their families with them… Romelle had no one. 

 

Pidge also really didn’t like talking about herself when it came down to it, “Tell me about them.” She nudges Romelle’s shoulders as blonde hair shook in time with her companion snapping out of whatever memory she’d been in, jumping slightly.

 

“What?” 

 

“Your parents, your brother- Bandor right?” 

 

She watches Romelle’s face carefully, watches her eyes fill with slight uncertainty, “I… We’re here to talk about you and why you’re avoiding Lance and Allura.” It’s stated firmly, but Pidge is dimly aware that her own face is being studied. 

 

“We’ll get to me.” Saying that feels easier than anything else, lilac eyes stop running over her face with an edge of protectiveness, despite the fact that Pidge would rather take on a whole Galra fleet alone than talk about feelings with someone, “You haven’t really talked about yourself past bits and pieces Romelle.”    
  
They’d foregone the glasses as Romelle lifts the bottle of whiskey from Pidge’s hands with ease, “You remind me of Bandor.” She starts quietly, tapping a finger against the glass neck of the bottle, her back slumps against the wall a little bit, “Endlessly curious, adventuring spirit… He was a bit taller than you are now, he wanted to… He wanted to see the stars.” Her voice didn’t change tone, sad clarity and certainty, “I had already accepted his death when Keith and Krolia came but I still wanted..” 

 

_ “Answers.”  _ She whispers. 

 

“Exactly.” Her companion breathes, “As for my parents… I don’t really remember as much as people assume, I was close with my Father and distant with my Mother…” She sips the whiskey in her hand then offers it out to Pidge, “I was only a child when they were taken, Bandor a few years younger than me.” 

  
  


Pidge takes her own sip of the drink, “When my Father and Brother went missing I wanted nothing but answers, I was prepared to go to every extreme no matter what in order to find them.”    
  
“You were?” Romelle’s head lands on her shoulder, soft hair brushing Pidge’s cheek slightly. 

 

She nods, that fuzzy feeling settling in… She’d barely had two sips dammit, “I pretended to be a boy in order to infiltrate the Garrison ranks, got away with it too.” Romelle raises an eyebrow, “What? Look I know it was a little crazy-”    
  
“I would probably have done the same thing.” She replies and Pidge can almost sense that somewhere Shiro is choking on his own drink, “As long as I didn’t have to wear this uniform…” Romelle tugs on her collar to emphasise her point, “Human clothes are so uncomfortable.” 

 

Pidge laughs as she leans her head on Romelle’s, “We have other clothing options you know, they just gave you what was to hand when we arrived.” 

 

“You do?!” She squealed, jousting them both as she sat up “Why am I still in this quizzaking uniform then?!” 

 

“It’s ‘Quiznaking’ and you could have just asked.” Romelle’s lips press together as Pidge takes another sip of the whiskey and hands it back to the Altean, as she breathes a confession she’s yet to since being back on earth, “I want to wear a dress again.” 

 

Romelle tucks Pidge into her side carefully, she doesn’t complain purely because Romelle is warm and soft, “Why don’t you?” Her voice is quietly inquiring. 

 

Female companionship isn’t something Pidge has ever actively sought out beyond her Mother, but she wonders if this is what it feels like “Because I don’t want to get comfortable, which is ridiculous because I miss being able to just pull a dress on in the morning.” 

 

Her companion says nothing so Pidge continues, “I miss wearing a dress, a nice pair of tights and a cute pair of shoes.” She tucks herself a little further into Romelle’s side as she says this, warm comfort mixed with intoxication probably not a good idea “Running around in one without a care in the world…” 

 

A beat of silence passes, before Romelle bursts out laughing. 

 

“What?”    
  
“I’m… I’m sorry, I just pictured Lance’s face when he sees you in a dress.” She’s still giggling as small pushed down notes of laughter escape, “He’s be so… What’s the word Hunk used- Right!” Romelle lifts her head up to look at the tiny human half buried in her side, “He’d be so shook!” 

 

“I don’t think he’d be..” 

 

“No! He would!” She insists, removing herself from Pidge’s side as she stands up and takes her by the hand, “Oh, he’d probably take you by the hand and be all romantic… And it will all be my doing!”    
  
“Romelle-”    
  
“No! I can just picture it, you and him walking along a beach at sunset while some Earth love song plays and-”    
  
Pidge knows exactly, “Hunk made you watch Mamma Mia didn’t he?”    
  
“Hunk made me watch Mamma Mia.” Romelle admits with a slight sigh, taking another swig of the whiskey, she’d drunk more than Pidge and only just looks a little fuzzy now which is unfair. Because it must of been like the brain freeze thing, “He has a whole list he, Shay and I are working through whenever we get a moment to right now. 

  
Sighing, Pidge braces herself against the wall wondering if she was the one getting dizzy or if Romelle was actually swaying, “Julia Roberts next?”    
  
“Apparently!” There’s a light in Romelle’s eyes, one Pidge recognises all too well, “Pidge? Are you okay you look-”    
  
“I’m still a lightweight.” She whispers quietly.

 

“A what-”   
  
Pidge passes out before Romelle could even ask what she meant properly. 

  
  
  


When Romelle skids through the door into the kitchen and ends up headfirst in Hunk’s chest, he catches her with surprising ease. She’s swaying a bit when he rights her and it’s the blown pupils that catch his attention first “Hey what’s up-”    
  
“I’m here for Lance.” She states plainly, pointing over Hunk’s shoulder as she giggles a bit right at the aforementioned, “Pidge needs him in my room-”    
  
She doesn’t even really get to finish before Lance is out of his chair and hurrying down the hallway, Romelle laughs in a snort as she leans her forehead against Hunk. 

 

“What the…” Keith murmurs quietly, before everyone looks Romelle over properly, “Are you  _ drunk?”  _

 

“Nooooooo!” The Altean replied, “Yes.” She corrected herself, giggling a little more. 

 

Hunk slowly turned his gaze from the door, to the others in the room and then back down at the giggling blonde in his arms, “What did you do?” He asks cautiously. 

 

“Kind of a drunk confession hopefully!” She chirps, “As long as Pidge still talks in her sleep.” 

 

“I honestly don’t know whether to be proud or scared right now.”    
  


* * *

 

Even in a drunken half awake state she knows when she’s being scooped up in someone’s arms, their warm and comforting… Sea salt tickles the end of her nose as she somehow both cling to the person and remains quietly sleepy. 

 

“I never talked about the… The thing we were supposed to talk about.” She thinks she says it clearly as Romelle lifts her up- At least she thinks it’s Romelle, she’s certainly strong enough to pick Pidge up… But who else would it be? “About his stupid smile, or his stupid eyes, or about how he… He saves me all the time without even knowing it.” 

 

Her fingers bundle in the shirt of the person carrying her, she’s being carried bridal style but she still finds a way to curl into them. 

 

“Or his dumb ability to make me smile when no one else can, his fucking… His fucking laughter, contagious..” She hears the whoosh of doors opening, “He can get me to laugh in seconds, it’s really annoying.” 

 

Another door opens.

 

“Every word he says, his arms around my shoulders, everything makes him… Makes him  _ Lance- _ ” 

 

She’s dropped into a bed, hers she hopes, “What the hell-” It leaves her mouth but she can’t open her eyes, she’s too tired, she’s spilt her guts in words and feelings. Thoughts and emotions, more than she ever really wants to. 

 

Pidge wants to open her eyes as she’s rolled onto her side, a hand running softly through her hair to push it away from her face, wants to see who’s there as she hears soft footsteps starting to leave.

 

“Why can’t he see I’m right here?” She whispers, half broken and she feels the tears start rolling down her cheeks, “I’m right here, hopelessly in love with every single part of him.” 

 

She’s drifting, her words as slowing down, sleep claiming her. 

 

“Hopelessly? When have you ever lost hope Pidge?” 

 

He’s gone when her eyes snap open. 


	2. Finally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunsets are the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The narrative between Part 1 and Part 2 are very different. 
> 
> Sorry about that. 
> 
> Also yeah, I only did like a five-minute edit on it.

He’s 16.

 

He’s 16 and breathless.

 

He's 16 and knows the meaning of time standing still.

 

All it takes is a single smile, a twirl in a lavender dress, auburn curls spilling down a girl’s back and her _smile._

 

Everything freezes and restarts all at once, a scene replaying in a movie, as he meets her eyes that can’t be made of anything less than sunsets for a single span of a second and there’s a jolt to his heart, a flush on his skin.

 

Then she’s gone.

 

And Lance figures out that girls can be the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

 

* * *

 

He’s 17.

 

17 and reckless.

 

17 and sick of being ignored in favor of a boy who can’t even follow simple orders.  
  
He’s glad when he finds out Keith has been expelled, they’d all seen the fight happen. Keith was gone within the week.

 

Lance got moved up to fighter pilot class a moment later.

 

He wants to bond with Pidge Gunderson, that’s his goal for the rest of the year.

 

Pidge Gunderson, who raises his eyebrows with humour in them whenever Lance asks him to hang out, everytime he calls him ‘Dude’ or ‘Bro’, who shoots him down at every invitation to go into town or sneak out.

 

A sting echoes through Lance’s chest every time.

 

It is not the rejection kind he’s pretty sure, the ache is different, like he’s yearning-

 

Nope, that was impossible. Lance didn’t even like guys, it wasn’t the same kind of rejected feeling he got when he flirted with a girl.

 

It’s got to be the friendship kind.  
  
Pidge is sure he thinks, that he only wants to see the two in class and nowhere else.

 

But Lance is determined.

 

* * *

 

17 and everything is Blue, his dreams ooze the colour with a spot of red as it begins to feel like something is coming.

 

Then pretty blue eyes fall in his arms, looking up at him with confusion and hair like starlight.

 

Pretty blue eyes that may remind him of the things he’s wanted to see since he was a child.

 

But Sunsets linger longer in his memory than the blue of starlights.

 

* * *

 

Pidge is a girl.

 

He expected a lot of things.

 

This was not one of them.

Neither does he see the memory come back around in his dreams of sunset eyes and lavender satin.

 

* * *

 

Lance is 17 and unsure of his worth in something for the first time in a long time.

 

But the smiles he copies are worth it.

 

Definitely worth it.

 

* * *

 

Allura appears more often in his fantasy these days, a hero in her eyes he thinks, as she swoons over his muscles, his charm and wit, his heroics-

 

His head landing on the floor is the loudest sound following being hit in the face by a robot arm.

 

“Oops.”

 

Pidge does not sound sorry in the slightest.

 

He finds it a little funny because the expression he looks up to see on her face is lowkey adorable.

 

_Lowkey._

 

* * *

 

Pidge’s sarcastic comment about Sunsets only makes him think of the one sunset out of millions that he wants to see again.

 

 _Needs_ to see again at least once more in his life.

* * *

 

He wonders if they’ll ever see home again, not for the first or the last time.

 

He misses his family more at that moment.

 

* * *

 

Her smile when she cradles the newly bought game to her chest makes something in his own flutter with beating warmth. Soft, her smile is probably the brightest one he’s ever seen in his whole life.

 

Well, second brightest… After Sunset Eyes and Lavender.

 

* * *

 

His phone’s clock is the only thing that makes sense.

 

He wonders if it’s date is right as it clicks over to Midnight.

 

And Lance is 18.

 

18, Red Lion in his control or lack thereof and trying not to feel useless in the weeks following Keith’s departure, when everyone is different without him around.

 

18, watching as Allura seemingly remains indifferent to the lack of Keith’s presence, as her mouth seems to shut faster when Shiro starts talking now as if she’s afraid of something.

 

18 and definitely not hyper focusing on the fact that everyone attention- Pidge’s attention, moves from him to the newcomer who stepped off the Green Lion and seems more useful than he ever has-

 

Lance is 18, 18 and trying to feel better about himself.

 

* * *

 

He’s in love with the Princess, it’s undeniable at this point. Who else leaves him with this giddy of a warm feeling? At least… He’s pretty sure he’s in love with her, how could he not be?

 

Lotor leaves him with a sour taste in his mouth, more of a lump in his throat and tension climbing into his shoulders more than anything else ever has. No matter how kind, logical and nice the Prince’s words seem.

 

But, Pidge is curled into a ball behind him, nothing else seems to matter when he sees that.

 

And Lance can’t touch her.

* * *

 

“Can you _believe_ my dad thought we were together?” She’s practicality howling with laughter, it escapes at random moments as Hunk struggles to keep it together as he takes a sip of his milkshake when Lance walks in the room.

 

Hunk holds the third one out to him, his cheeks almost bursting “Lance, oh my gods!” He lets some of the laughter out, “Commander Holt thought Pidge and I were dating-”

 

He doesn’t choke on his milkshake, Lance looks between the two of them both as an ache goes through him, “Why would he think that?” His voice sounds off to him, he hears it and has to stop in his thoughts for a moment.

 

There’s a split second when he sees his Best friend’s eyes widen a fraction and his eyebrows raise at the same time. Pidge is ignoring them because she’s still laughing.

 

It sounds almost maniacal, “Hunk, I love you buddy but not like that.”

 

“Ditto.” Hunk replies, but it’s said in a way that makes Lance think that he’s not really saying it to the shortest member of their trio as he sips his milkshake, “Besides, I’m not dramatic enough to be a Holt!”  
  
Pidge stops laughing, her eyes narrowing.

 

Lance doesn’t mourn the loss of the sound.

 

He doesn’t.

 

* * *

 

“I can’t actually wait for you guys to meet the team I have out here..” He is keeping his tears in just barely, “You’ll love them, Veronica and Pidge will get along like a house on fire I swear.. Mami will love her too, strong-willed.”  
  
He laughs, “You’ll probably mainly love her because she’s saved my life more times than I can count… But onto Keith-”

* * *

 

 

He’s 18.

 

He’s in love with a Princess.

 

Who does not love him back.

 

Lance thinks about First Choices.

 

Then sunsets.

* * *

  


The Castle is _gone._

 

Lotor is dead.

 

Keith is back.

 

Allura is broken.

 

Shiro’s been dead for a whole _year._

 

* * *

 

“I think it’s cute, in a hideous and ugly way… Kinda like you Lance!”

 

He glares.

  
  
But Pidge’s slight smirk is worth it.

 

* * *

 

“I’d bet half my fleet they have a soft spot for the small one.”

 

_Red._

 

A step.

 

He sees _Red,_ pure and unadulterated _Red._

 

“DON’T YOU TOUCH _HER!”_ _  
_

* * *

 

He couldn’t- He couldn’t save her-

 

He missed his chance and now-

 

* * *

 

Her hands cradling his arm are warm, he can feel it through their armour, through their suits, he can also feel her shaking with each second that passes.

 

He squeezes her hand ever so slightly when her thumb slides into his.

 

_Protect her._

 

Her hand is so small in his, so small and he doesn’t want to let it go.

 

Even as the rest break apart he just has to keep holding her, keep her close to him because..

 

He needs her.

* * *

  


He watches as she collapses in her Mother’s arms, as they both fall to the ground, she’s clinging to her Mother like a new born baby.

 

Pidge is home.

 

“LANCE!”

 

There they are.

 

Running towards him all at once and crying as they tackle him, as he lands on his knees and holds every single one of them as close as he can.

 

_He’s home._

 

* * *

 

Her rendering signature is always the easiest to find for some reason.

 

* * *

 

“Stay safe out there!” Her cheeks are flushed, so are his.

 

Allura’s tone of voice and soft gaze are both things he’s wanted to focus on him for the longest time.

He waits for the dizzy whirling rush of warmth that usually comes from her attention.

 

But it doesn’t come.

* * *

  
Red isn’t coming.

 

He’s ready to die and all he can think about is the fact that he wishes that his sister was somewhere else and safe.

 

That’s a lie.

 

A sunset is in there too.

* * *

 

Lance never got to say it properly.

 

Never ever got to say it.

 

But he feels it when his Bayard slots into place and the swords appear.

 

* * *

 

He never got to say it and there’s a bomb about to blow.

 

So why is he so calm as he opens his eyes finally.

 

Why is he so calm when sunsets slot into place on a face he knows so well now.

 

He never got to tell her.

 

* * *

 

“Allura liked the flowers we sent her.” His nephew chirps, “She liked my drawing too! Veronica said I should draw you-”

  
  
“Flowers?” To Allura. Why would Veronica…

 

Lance makes it a point to turn and glare at his sister hard.

 

“How is she?” His Mami is sat there knitting, he missed that sight more than anything, the hospital chairs must be a nightmare for her, “This Princess of yours?”

 

“She’s not my anything.” He starts plainly, “And I don’t know, we haven’t talked since before we took off for the mission.”

 

He watches his whole family pause.

 

Watches Veronica’s eyebrows furrow slightly.

 

Silence echoes out for a moment and then they launch into telling him more of what he’s missed in the four years he’s been gone from them.

 

No one mentions Allura for the rest of their visiting time.

 

“So.” Luis prompts, “Tell us about the rest of your team?”  
  
Lance grins, “Well, Pidge is-”

 

* * *

 

“Lance?”

 

He jumps slightly at the whisper and turns towards the door, his injuries still twinge but she’s fully dressed in uniform with her hair up already better by the looks of it, “Hey Allura…”

 

She doesn’t move from the doorway, “I’m sorry.” Her voice almost breaks, “I’m sorry Lance, I can’t return your feelings… I..I tried before we went into the last fight but… I can’t. I just can’t-”  
  
“I know.” Lance replies plainly as day, he’s surprised there’s no sadness in his voice “I think I’ve known since Keith left to be honest, I seem to be exceptionally good at both being blind and lying to myself.”

 

The name he says leaves her frozen.

 

“You need to talk to him you know.” He continues as he watches her face change into an expression he hasn’t seen on her face before, “Not me, I’m not the rock you need Allura, I have never been.”

 

He watches a Queen as she slowly falls to the floor, a Ruler whose kingdom is long gone, beyond where she can reach.

 

She’s crying and he gets it.

They aren’t okay anymore.

 

They never really were.

 

* * *

 

His family is surrounding him this time as he watches the clock on the wall.

 

He’s sat in the space where they’ve been living for almost years now, they sit together.

 

Watching the clock chime midnight.

 

Legally he’s 21.

 

Naturally, he’s 19.

 

19 and sick of being useless.  

 

Sick of doubting himself.

 

19, but he needs her eyes.

 

He needs her hand in his.

 

He needs her smile.

 

He needs her mind, her life intertwined with his.

 

He didn’t need a Princess, he never had.

 

Lance needed a Sunset.

 

* * *

 

Sunset avoids him at every turn, it’s not just because he’s mostly working inside lately either.

 

She hides when he comes into rooms she can’t leave quickly, flings excuses that she thinks of on the fly before running down the hallway when she thinks he can’t see.

 

Using Romelle as a shield is a new one though.

 

* * *

 

“Have you seen Pidge?”

 

“She’s been avoiding me even when we have to work together Lance.” Allura states plainly, moving a hand down the sheet of metal from the Robeast, “So no, I have not seen Pidge.”  
  
“Oh.” He looks over at his friend bent over the work table, her eyes focused on her task at hand, “Have you talked to Keith yet?”  
  
The only sound is the sheet of metal falling from her hands.

 

* * *

 

She needs him.

 

Pidge needs him.

 

* * *

 

She’s so light, he didn’t think she’d be so light.

 

She’s babbling drunkenly about someone, a ‘Him’ who with every word Lance is half convinced is a total jerk.

 

Some Lance not-so-lowkey wants to punch in the face.

 

“-Everything that… That makes him _Lance.”_

 

 _Am I the jerk?_   
  
He doesn’t mean to drop her, she lands on her bed but the sentiment remains the same as she swears and he looks down at her in slight shock.

 

However, he’s quick to right her, rolling her onto her side so there’s less of a chance of her choking on her own vomit, removes her glasses and brushing her softer than anything hair out of the way while he does so.

 

“Why can’t he see that I’m right here?”  
  
He sees her, gods does he see her.

 

“I’m right here-”  
  
He knows, he so totally knows.  
  
“-Hopelessly in love with him.”

 

Lance had not known that words leave his mouth before he thinks about it.

 

“Hopelessly? When have you ever lost hope Pidge?”  
  
He leaves before her eyes can open and see his burning face.

 

* * *

 

Romelle glares at him while his foot taps on the ground, she looks hungover.

 

Hunk places a large mug that’s really more of a bowl of freshly brewed coffee in front of her, a mistake surely.

 

Keith sips at his own from where they’re all sat across the room from him at the small kitchen table on their floor of the Garrison.

 

They’re all sat watching him.

 

He knows they are, he’s not blind-

 

“ _-Hopelessly in love with him.”_   
  
-Mostly.

 

Pidge walks in and she looks like Hell.

 

Beautiful, beautiful Hell.

 

He still drops his coffee cup at the sight of her eyes, clearer than in his memory.

 

* * *

 

“Lance and I aren’t together.”

 

Allura speaks like she does to politicians as she says this.

 

“And he’s completely in love with you I hope you know.”

 

* * *

 

He wants to kiss her.

 

But Sunset still evades him.

 

* * *

  


He has to pull a double take when he looks up from the book he’s reading in the windowless office he’d somehow managed to gain and Pidge is standing there looking directly at him as she says two words he never thought he’d hear again.

 

“It’s Raining.”

* * *

 

 

He takes her hand.

 

She squeezes it.

 

Water spits warm across his face as he looks directly up at the sky.

 

Neither of them breaks their hold on the other nor do they touch anything but each other’s hands.

 

* * *

 

Her hand is delicate but he can still feel the telltale signs of hard work and war on them.

 

* * *

 

Pidge has Freckles.

 

* * *

 

Her hair is soft in his fingers and on his face when he lays his head in it.

 

* * *

 

He wants to make her smile like the first time.

 

* * *

 

 _“I think I’m in love with you.”_ He wants to say it.

 

She doesn’t move an inch when he cradles her cheek and looks straight into the sunlight.

 

* * *

 

She’s so small in his arms, he can tuck her under his chin.

 

They watch the clock together.

 

* * *

 

He wants to kiss her.

 

But what would happen if he did?  


* * *

 

 _“I definitely love you.”_ It runs through his head whenever he looks at her when he makes her laugh with a joke everyone else groans at, as she tells him exactly what her plan is.

 

The spark that goes off in her eyes that tricks him into thinking he’s looking at the biggest star around.

 

He feels so alive when she looks at him like that.

 

* * *

 

She’s crying.

 

He’s not dead yet.

 

* * *

 

The sword is a familiar weight to him.

 

She holds it with ease as she abandons the remnants of what had been her bayard and holds his up.

 

There’s nothing but satisfaction in her face when an Altean broadsword comes into being and the soldiers flinch as he drags himself to his feet to hold it with her.

His hands covering hers.

 

Hers are steady, she makes him steady.

 

* * *

 

“I love you.” He whispers.

 

Pidge presses a kiss to his lips, dried up blood on her cheek and his Bayard still in their hands as the last one falls to the ground somewhere nearby.

* * *

 

“I love you.”  
  
She kisses him harder.

 

* * *

 

Her kisses become salty when she meets him in the middle of the airfield, the Garrison sprawling out around them.

 

Someone whistles.

 

He tastes every one of their tears as he kisses her like he needs her to breathe.

 

* * *

 

The Lions don’t move.

 

They’re alive.

 

Stoic and still as they look upon their paladins.

 

She’s alive.

 

There’s amusement from Red.

 

She’s in love with him.

 

Green seems to cackle.

 

He’s always been in love with her.

 

* * *

 

 _“-LANCE!”_ He jumps as Hunk shakes his shoulder and him from his daydream, he tunes back into the sound of Professor Montgomery's voice, “You kinda spaced out there for a minute?”

 

Sunsets and Lavender.

 

“The Obol is the most advanced ship we have had at the Garrison to this date, designed to travel to Kerberos within a year.” The Professor says with slight excitement in her tone as if she’s ready for something to finally happen, “You can see Commander Samuel Holt the head designer and engineer for the project taking photos with his family right now.”

 

Sunsets and Lavender.

 

“And that concludes our Lesson for the day-”  
  
“FINALLY!” Lance yells, earning himself a detention. One in a long line since he turned 16 a week ago.

 

_The future is a Sunset._

  



End file.
